USAID’s Digital Strategy charts an Agency-wide approach to development in a rapidly evolving digital age. Building on decades of USAID leadership in digital development, the strategy outlines USAID’s deliberate and holistic commitment to improve development and humanitarian assistance outcomes through the use of digital technology and strengthen open, inclusive, and secure digital ecosystems.

The Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA), a flagship initiative of the Digital Strategy, identifies opportunities and risks in a country’s digital ecosystem to help the development, design, and implementation of USAID’s strategies, projects, and activities. It informs USAID Missions and other key decision-makers about how to better understand, work with, and support a country’s digital ecosystem.

This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Nepal DECA pilot, which took place between April 2020 and October 2020. The process included desk research, consultations with USAID/Nepal, and six weeks of virtual key informant interviews. It involved a total of 53 interviews with stakeholders from civil society, academia, the private and public sectors, and USAID/Nepal technical offices. The DECA pilot was guided by four key USAID/Nepal priorities: more effective, participatory, and equitable democratic ecosystems; broad-based and inclusive economic growth; inclusive health and education systems; and more equitable and improved natural resources and disaster risk management.